Loved Flock, Do Not Be Afraid to Give It Away

And someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my
brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to
him, "Man, who appointed me a judge or arbiter over you?" And he
said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of
greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist
of his possessions." And he told them a parable, saying, "The land
of a certain rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning
to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to
store my crops?' "And he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear
down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my
grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have
many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat,
drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very
night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you
have prepared?' So is the man who lays up treasure for himself,
and is not rich toward God."

And he said to his disciples, "For
this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to
what you shall eat; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body than clothing. Consider
the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; and they have no
storeroom nor barn; and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable
you are than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add
a single cubit to his life's span? If then you cannot do even a
very little thing, why are you anxious about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;
but I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe
himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass in the
field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the
furnace, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith! And do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, and
do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the
world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these
things. But seek for his kingdom, and these things shall be added
to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen
gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to
charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing
treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also."

Don't Fear: Trust God, Not Human Resources

This whole chapter of Luke (ch. 12) is strewn with words from
Jesus about not being afraid. And in every case the contentment and
peace and fearlessness and courage that he wants us to have is not
owing to the human resources at our disposal (like money or ability
or possessions or intellect or looks or status or connections). In
every case the peace and courage and fearlessness is owing to the
fact that God will be there for us even when human resources are
small or fail entirely.

Those Who Kill the Body

For example, in verse 4 Jesus says, "Do not fear those who kill
the body, and after that have no more that they can do." So there
is an example of how the basis for fearlessness stands when all
human resources of help fail and you get killed. Jesus says, "Even
then, don't fear, because God will be there for you in death and
after death forever."

Human Wisdom or Shrewdness

Another example is in verse 11: "When they bring you before the
synagogues and the rulers and authorities, do not be anxious how or
what you are to answer or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit
will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

Don't rely on human wisdom or memory or creativity or
shrewdness, rely on God, the Holy Spirit. When you feel utterly
inadequate to know what you will say, trust God, and not
yourself.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

A third example is in the parable of the rich fool who builds
bigger and bigger barns when his income increases. And he thinks he
has found the way to peace and security and freedom from fear. So
he says in verse 19, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many
years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry." His contentment is in
what he thinks he can control—his investments. But God says to him
in verse 20, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you."

In other words, if a person finds his income rising and rising,
and instead of funneling that increase into kingdom ministry he
buys more and bigger things to increase his ease and security (like
this rich man), then God will call that person a fool and take away
his soul.

Thing-Seeking

A fourth example is verse 22, "Do not be anxious about your
life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put
on . . . " Again in verses 29–31: "Do not seek what you are to eat
and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the
nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows you
need them all. Instead seek the kingdom and these things shall be
yours as well."

Here Jesus calls us to replace thing-seeking with
kingdom-seeking, and to do it without anxiety for not having
things. He calls us to be different from the rest of the world:
"All the nations of the world seek these things." The followers of
Jesus replace thing-seeking with kingdom-seeking. And they leave
the financial "success" of their ventures with God as they focus on
the spiritual payoff—the righteousness payoff and mercy payoff and
Christ-exalting payoff—not the money payoff.

The basis of this fearless, single-minded focus on the kingdom
of God in all that we do is God's promise to be there for us. Verse
30: "Your Father knows that you need them all."

Being Little Sheep

The fifth example of this is the one I want to focus on a little
longer. Verse 32: "Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

Here it is plain again that the basis of fearlessness is not our
human resources, but God's being there for us. Don't fear even
though you are only sheep (in the midst of wolves, 10:3) and even
though you are little and not great. And remember the basis of your
fearlessness is: you have a Father who owns and runs the world and
he really loves giving the kingdom to his sheep-like children. "It
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

What's the Threat That Makes Jesus Say This?

Now here's a question: What is the threat in verse 32 that makes
Jesus say, "Fear not, little flock?" What are they being tempted to
fear in this context? Don't jump out of these verses to answer the
question yet.

You can find the answer in either direction: going backward a
few verses or going forward a few verses. If you go backward, the
thing they are in danger of fearing is the call to no longer be
like the nations (v. 30) who seek things, who build bigger barns.
If we actually focus on the kingdom and stop pursuing things and
ease and security, will we really be happy? Will we really
survive?

Or if you go forward in the context (to v. 33), the thing they
are in danger of fearing is giving things away. Verse 33: "Fear not,
little flock, . . . Sell your possessions and give alms." So if you
go backward to verse 30 the fear is not seeking things the way the
nations do; and if you go forward to verse 33 the fear is giving
things away.

Seeking the Kingdom by Selling and Giving

And "seeking the kingdom" (v. 31) includes both of those things:
something we stop doing and something we start doing. We stop
focusing our quest on things, and we start selling what we don't
need and turning our stockpiled resources into ministries of
kingdom-bringing love.

And in doing this Jesus says we provide true treasure for
ourselves in heaven. Jesus once said, "The kingdom of heaven is
like a treasure hidden in a field which a man finds and . . . sells
everything he has to buy to have that field" (Matthew 13:44). The
point of that parable is that the kingdom of God is a treasure more
valuable than anything you own.

Here in verse 33 Jesus says that when we sell our possessions
and give them as alms—as acts of love—we are providing "purses
for ourselves that do not grow old and a treasure in the heavens
that does not fail." That treasure is the kingdom of God.

The sequence of thought is: Don't seek to have things the way
the nations do; seek to have the kingdom. How? Sell things and thus
provide yourself the treasure, the kingdom, in heaven. Seek things
like the nations and lose the kingdom. Sell things and give for the
nations, and you will inherit the kingdom.

Does This Mean That We Buy the Kingdom?

No. Verse 32 is plain: "It is your Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom." The kingdom of God is a gift, not a
purchase; it's given, not earned. But it is a gift to those who
want it more than they want things. It's a gift to those who seek
it more than they seek things. It's a gift to those who fear
missing it more than they fear not having earthly security. It's a
gift to those who trust the King more than the dollar.

We don't buy the kingdom when we scale down our material lives
and sell things so we can give. We show that we value the kingdom
more than things.

Zacchaeus illustrates what this means in Luke 19:9. He was the
rich tax collector. When Jesus visited his home his heart was
changed and he stood up and said, "Half my possessions I give to
the poor." When Jesus heard that, he said, "Today salvation has
come to this house." Did he mean Zacchaeus bought salvation? No, he
meant salvation changed
Zacchaeus, and the proof was his radically
different attitude toward money.

How you handle your possessions shows where your heart is. And
where your heart is determines whether you are saved or not. And
whether you are saved or not determines whether you will inherit
the kingdom—the treasure in heaven that does not grow old.

Selling your possessions and giving rather than accumulating
more and more things for yourself is the pathway to the kingdom,
not the payment for the kingdom. It is the proof that you love the
kingdom more than possessions. That you trust the King more than
money.

Jesus Knows It's a Fearful Message

Jesus knows that this message strikes fear into the hearts of
his disciples. When I say these things, there is fear in many of you
that God's will for you might be a lifestyle very different than
the one you are striving for or living in. Jesus knows that it is a
fearful message.

And so he says, "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom." The pathway to the kingdom is
the path of falling in love with King Jesus, trusting our heavenly
Father, falling out of love with things, and taking on a wartime
lifestyle that maximizes all income for the cause of the kingdom.
And since this is the pathway that leads to the kingdom, and since
Jesus says our Father will give us the kingdom, then we can be
assured of God's help to stay on this path.

God Does the Impossible

That's what Jesus meant in dealing with the rich young ruler in
chapter 18. He said, "Sell all that you possess, give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me" (v. 22).
But he wouldn't do it. And Jesus said, "How hard it is for those
who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!" (v. 24). He compared
it to a camel going through the eye of a needle. When the disciples
said, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus said, "The things impossible
with men are possible with God" (v. 27).

In other words: God does the impossible; God gets people into
the kingdom; God gives the kingdom. People may be so in bondage to
things and to the security and the pleasures and the prestige of
their possessions that they can't "sell their possessions and give
alms." They can't trust God more than the security of things. They
can't delight in God more than the pleasures of things. They can't
take on a wartime lifestyle that puts a cap on their spending for
things and funnels all surplus money into the kingdom causes of
compassion and righteousness and truth.

But what they can't do, Jesus says, God can do. What is
impossible with men, is possible with God. That's what conversion
is: the work of God changing the heart and filling it with the
wealth of the glory of Christ and freeing it from slavery to the
vain glory of things.

The Kingdom Is a Gift of God

"Unless a person is born again he shall not see the kingdom of
God," Jesus said (John 3:3). "Unless you are converted and become
like children you shall not enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 18:3).
Being born again and being converted and becoming like a child is a
miraculous gift of God. Without it no one gets on the path that
leads to the kingdom and no one stays on the path and gets to the
kingdom. The kingdom is a gift of God. It is not achieved in our
strength.

But it's a gift not because there is a broad path that leads to
life. The way that leads to life is narrow and it is the way of
selling possessions and giving alms. Of putting a cap on the
ever-expanding capacity to buy and buy and buy—barn after barn.
The way that leads to life—to the kingdom—leads through a wartime
lifestyle that aims not at the security and ease and prestige of
accumulation, but at saving the lost and sending missionaries and
feeding the hungry and healing the sick and teaching the simple and
dignifying the poor with work and care. And when that lifestyle
happens, it is a miraculous gift of God.

Relating All This to Our Situation at Bethlehem

In relating all this to our situation here at Bethlehem I call
your attention to the leaflet called "Our Giving Account" published
by the Financial and Property Administrators. It gives the history
of our growth; the percentages of the 1.4 million dollar budget
that go to missions and pastors and staff and education and worship
and office and maintenance; and the reasons for the cash crunch
that we are in right now. These are available at the information
table.

On the back it says that I am supposed to give you a special
challenge. I prayed about this again and again yesterday. It
occurred to me that I could point out that each Sunday attender
giving an extra $4.16 a week would meet our budget need through the
fall. Or more realistically an extra $6.89 a week from the regular
725 adult giving units would do the same thing. I pledge to do at
least that, as God enables me. About $14 more every bi-weekly pay
check.

But that is not what I felt the Lord urging me to give as the
special challenge to you this morning. What I think he wants me to
say is much closer to the words of Jesus. I will call it the
William Carey Wildcard. My challenge is that you take the risk of
playing that card.

In October 1795, William Carey received a packet of letters in
India. One of the letters criticized Carey for "engaging in affairs
of trade" instead of devoting full time to his missionary work.
Carey was hurt and angered by the accusation. If he had not worked,
he and his family would have starved since the support from England
was so slow and small and sporadic in arriving.

He wrote back these words which describe the William Carey
wildcard,

It is a constant maxim with me that, if my conduct will not
vindicate itself, it is not worth vindicating . . . I only say
that, after my family's obtaining a bare allowance, my whole
income, and some months, much more, goes for the purposes of the
gospel, in supporting persons to assist in the translation of the
Bible, write copies, teach school, and the like . . . I mention . .
. [this] to show that the love of money has not prompted me to
pursue the plan that I have engaged in. I am indeed poor, and shall
always be so till the Bible is published in Bengali and
Hindosthani, and the people want no further instruction. (Mary
Drewery, William Carey: A Biography, p. 91)

The William Carey Wildcard is not some little gimmick to get you
to give another $6.89 to Bethlehem. It is a radical call to
remember that we are fighting a war for the eternal lives of men
and women and to use your possessions like you really believe it.
"After an allowance for me and my family, my whole income goes for
the purposes of the gospel." That's the William Carey Wildcard. And
I believe that's the call of Jesus to all his disciples.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

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